By Frederic Germay
Just kidding! I actually enjoyed this episode; I was just looking for a mildly witty title for this review. However, I have to admit that I was ready to label this season a “sophomore slump” after the first few episodes failed to enthrall me in the tradition “Heroes” fashion. Thankfully, this episode pressed all the right buttons, and while it wasn’t perfect – it was darn near close.
The best part of the episode was undeniably the return of the coolest villain ever, Sylar. Just watching that cold stare gave me shivers! Even more fascinating was the brief return of an equally malicious Candice. Apparently her mission was to take Sylar to the middle of a forest far from civilization, and gradually convince him to work for them as he starts to heal from his wounds. As was foreseen in “Five Years Later,” I had an inkling that Sylar would attempt to kill Candice. Unfortunately, (Or fortunately) he was unable to take her power. Perhaps his surgery somehow (hopefully) temporarily affected his abilities, or maybe his surgery was to primarily affect his powers. I know Hiro really jabbed him with the Kensei sword, but eight surgeries??
Speaking of Hiro, I’m no longer one hundred percent sure that he will become Takezo Kensei. It appears that Mr. Sark (don’t expect me to call him anything else, you non-“Alias” fans!) has powers of his own, and is quite capable of finishing the Kensei legend. However, Hiro now has a (love) interest in the matter, and perhaps he will still become Kensei later on. After all, I’m pretty sure that I remember from the first season that the illustrations of Kensei were of an Asian man, not a Caucasian.
Speaking of love (yeah, I’m starting all paragraphs with “Speaking of…), Claire seems to have finally found someone like her who…well…likes her. As mildly enjoyable as Claire’s innocent scenes tend to be, it has become quite tedious to watch her arrogant counterpart, West. This young man’s cocky and pretentious attitude make me wonder why Claire can find him remotely likeable, yet she still has problems with her much more loving, yet shady, father.
Speaking of her father, Noah Bennet seems to have taken a back seat to the action. Obviously, he’s going to be confined to having whispered and rushed conversations over the phone in order to maintain the illusion of utter severance with his past dealings. Never-the-less, the past will come out, or in this case, someone will bring it out. Now, that West has revealed the juicy little tidbit about his connection with Mr. Bennet, Claire’s relationship with father will renew its former friction, and if West ever decides to ‘stop’ by again and runs into Mr. Bennet…problems will arise.
Speaking of arising problems, Maya and Mohinder have found themselves in situations that they can’t back out of. Maya may not always have her doting brother around to rewind the consequences of her devastating ability, so she may have to learn how to control her power. As is usual “Heroes” tradition, I expect her to cross paths with another hero soon and I’m quite curious as to how that plays out. On the other hand, Mohinder seems to have severely underestimated the company. How could you expect an organization that places a great deal of importance on confidentiality, not to monitor a new member (formerly of the opposition) quite closely?
Speaking of monitoring closely (yeah, I know it’s a rather lame lead-in), I have monitored this episode closely and have found that the sole dissatisfactory element was the subplot of Peter. After his significant role in the past season, he is pushed to the background with no relevance to the central plot. Perhaps the writers are planning to write him off, and they are ending his story with closure…NOT! Peter has way too many powers to write off, and his character better come back in to the central storyline sometime soon. As for the central plot, it seems as though these eight paintings are the main issue. Mr. Nakamura’s death and Mr. Bennet’s potential death have already been predicted by these paintings. I wish the plot was a little more explosive like last season, but I’ll wait to see how this plays out.
I give this episode a 9/10
